from today's Houston Chronicle:

Dick Ebersol, the NBC Sports chairman, uses a simple, cynical formula to broadcast the Olympics:

1. It's all about America.
2. It's all about overcoming adversity.
3. It's all about keeping us waiting to watch what we want to watch.
When we cover war on TV, we're the good guys, and the other folks are the bad guys. When we cover the Olympics, we're the only guys; the rest of the world is cast as extras.

(By the way, I'm as American as the next tax evader, but if I hear the national anthem one more time in the next week, I'm swimming to Cuba and seeking asylum.)

Meanwhile, every single athlete has overcome some kind of childhood misfortune, family hardship or near-fatal disease to make it to Athens. To which I say: Hey, everyone's got problems, pal.

Most exasperating of all is Ebersol's stop-and-go, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't presentation of the Olympics.

Every time we get emotionally invested in an event, NBC will break away from it, telling us, "We'll get back to the weightlifting a little later, but first ... "

This one-from-Column-A, two-from-Column-B approach might work well in a Chinese restaurant, but it is endlessly frustrating for an Olympic viewer.

That's why, even though track and field holds some interest for me this week in Athens, I'll opt instead for TV Land, where I know what time Bewitched starts, I know what time Bewitched ends, there's always a surprise or two between Samantha and Darrin, and it's over in 30 minutes.

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i don't think i'll tune in to Bewitched, but maybe i'll tune in to the Charlie Chaplin fest on Turner Classic Movies who has a really cool website to promote their Summer Under the Stars month.